Doofus-Proof Watering: Adjustable Sprinkler and Timer from Dramm

The initial plan for my home garden was to set up an automated drip irrigation system, but as my garden evolved, I realized how difficult it would be to make that type of setup work for me. Drip systems work best on gardens that have lots of individual shrubs and plants, and I have the sort of garden that might kindly be called “chaotic”, given that I test new plants each year, do odd experiments, and have a fondness for those charming-but-never-in-the-same-place-twice biennials. It’s not the type of garden that I’d design for a client, but as my fellow designers pointed out recently, our home gardens are often more like testing grounds than finished landscapes.

So yeah, while drip systems are lovely, it’s really tough to water a gardener’s garden with one, because of how often things change. That’s where sprinklers like the Dramm ColorStorm Turret Sprinkler come in. I turn it on for half an hour, everything gets a good soaking, and it doesn’t matter that I don’t recall where I sowed the poppy seeds. They come up and do their thing regardless.

Of course, whenever you turn a sprinkler on, you have to remember to turn it off again, and that’s where I’ve had issues in the past. Before Dramm sent me one of their ColorStorm timers, I’d set up the sprinkler with every intention of turning it off again, but then I’d get a phone call, the UPS man would arrive, and one of my employees would ask me to meet them at a jobsite. All the while, my sprinkler’s doing its thing, wasting water and annoying my plants with excess. Not cool.

With this Dramm timer, you turn the dial to however many minutes you’d like to water, it counts down and then shuts off the water at the right time. It’s not automated, so it’s not for people who are mad forgetful – it’s for people like me who can remember that they want to go out and water, but then sometimes get distracted midway through. And thank goodness, it doesn’t run on a battery, so it’s both eco-friendly and lazy person-friendly. It’s like an egg timer where you wind it to the right time and the mechanics inside take care of the rest.

Will the timer last forever? I don’t know. It’s got a lot of plastic parts. But it’s only about $15, and both the sprinkler and the timer are backed by a lifetime guarantee as long as you’re using them normally and not letting your rottweiler chew them. Mine’s been working great for the few months I’ve been testing it – no leaks.

Anyway, back to the turret sprinkler: it’s really the best I’ve seen. I mean, it’s purple, so that’s a point in its favor, but I can promise you I’ve chucked a lot of purple tools over the years that didn’t perform. What I love about it is that it has an adjustable dial to let you choose the shape you’re sprinkling in! How cool is that? If I am watering my lettuce bed, which is rectangular, I can choose the rectangle shape. Or if I’m watering my curved garden bed, I can choose the half-circle pattern so I don’t dampen my fence but do hit all of my perennials.

Because the base is made of metal, it’s not going to crack over time, and like the other Dramm tools I’ve owned over the years, it seems built to last.

The only innovation I wish Dramm would make is to come up with a tripod for their sprinklers so that I could elevate them above all that healthy foliage! Obviously that’s pretty easy to do yourself – a large brick set on its end works – but I’d love to be able to buy a purple tripod with a stand at the top so I could set the sprinkler at the right height. Hopefully that’s next in the product lineup (or am I the only person who would buy that?).

Giveaway! Since these two products are a natural fit to use together, Dramm has generously offered to send one of you lucky readers a set of your own. To enter, just leave a comment saying which color you’d like for your new Turret Sprinkler and ColorStorm Timer (red, orange, yellow, green, blue or purple), and I’ll choose a winner at random next Wednesday the 27th. US only.

About Genevieve

Genevieve Schmidt is a landscape designer and owns a fine landscape maintenance company in Arcata, CA. The owner of North Coast Gardening, she is also a contributing writer at Garden Design Magazine and has written for numerous print and online publications.

Oh, I would be that other person who buys your tripod idea! Since I have VERY low water pressure, I use a fan sprinkler (the kind on a spike) quite a bit, but only my little antique one has the right shape and sprays evenly (is there a new fan sprinkler out there worth anyone’s time???), and it has a very short spike. My husband has offered to weld on a longer spike, but I don’t want to alter it since it is old and a family heirloom of sorts. I try all sorts of odd contraptions to elevate this and other sprinklers, and am never really satisfied. Please let me know if you invent one! I would also like to win the set, but if it won’t work on low pressure, I will have to donate to someone else…

I set my sprinkler up on an old metal stool. I use a couple of rocks or bricks to hold it in place. Soaker hoses are good in some ways, but the birds really appreciate sprinklers. They come flocking around for the water. I just make sure to water early or late so I don’t lose too much to evaporation.

I purchased an orange Dramm hose and have to say it is one of the best. It does kink sometimes but it is a lot more lighter in weight than the super heavy Sears non-kinkers.
I still water by hand and enjoy the process, it gives me the chance to be in the garden every other day or more.
The purple timer sounds intriguing, especially knowing that it does not have a battery and the price seems to be a great value. Would love to have one in my Dramm arsenal.
Good luck to all.

Oh a toss up between purple and the blue! I have several other Dramm products and very happy with all of them. Good timing on this I just had two sprinklers break and a hose is just about to break from old age! Pick me Pick me 🙂

I’d love to win this. And don’t kill me for saying this, but I’d take it in any color other than purple (running and hiding). I suppose red if I had to choose. And I could really use it to help deal with the drought we have going on (with no relent in sight).

Ha! I know about the gardener’s distractions. Right now I am supposed to be weeding my veggie patch but I noticed one of my dahlias hadn’t come up so I had to come inside to read about planting depth and problem-solving and now here I am catching up on blog reading.

I think I’m a day late, but I just discovered your site and I love it! So if you haven’t given it away yet, I’d love a purple one! It will match my beloved Dramm watering wand and twisty spray-pattern-of-your-choice thingy that I use to spray aphids off my collards. Anyway, your site is beautiful and informative, and I look forward to my subsciption arrivals. Great work!